Technological Innovations And Demand For Eco-Friendly Alternative To Define The Future Of Anti-Corrosion Coatings
Corrosion is a cancer of chemical industries. However, thankfully we have a cure for it. Anti-corrosion coatings prevent the chemical reaction that hampers the structural integrity of metal and changes its corrosion-induced appearance.
Anti-corrosion coatings have gained importance across several industries including construction, oil & gas, marine, energy plants, solar and wind turbines. The anti-corrosion coating manufacturers use several technologies to produced solvent-borne, waterborne, high-energy cure coating, and powder anti-corrosion coatings as per the requirement of customers.
As corrosion leads to several critical issues that severely affect industrial operations and result in major losses. Especially in chemical industries, if pipes are susceptible to corrosion, the entire product could lack the required quality and the damaged parts need to be replaced immediately, leading to long downtime. However, the majority of the industries invest in anti-corrosion coatings.
Anti-corrosion coating market developments:
According to Allied Market Research, the global anti-corrosion coating market is expected to reach $41.2 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 8.3% from 2020 to 2027. Rise in awareness regarding eco-friendly products, surge in investment across end-user industries, and superior performance of anti-corrosion powder coatings have boosted the market growth.
Over the last few years, several market players launched novel anti-corrosion coatings. For instance, Greenkote, one of the prime providers of advanced anti-corrosion coatings recently announced to launch a new Greenkote G5k coating that offers at least 5,000 hours of corrosion protection in salt-spray testing for metals. The newly-launched coating is designed for marine and coastal environment along with automotive and industrial application where equipment and the metal surface is exposed to water and other harsh chemicals for a longer duration.
Several market players have invested a huge pile of money to develop novel anti-corrosion coatings using a variety of metals. Recently, NLMK Group, a leading steel company, begun testing aluminum and magnesium doped zinc-based anti-corrosion coating for cold-rolled products. The company’s research suggests that compared to conventional zinc coatings, this coating makes the steel more resistant by the factor of three and increases its durability. The ZnAlMg-coated steel was subjected to various tests such as high exposure to concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the air, high levels of humidity at low temperature, and sea salt aerosol. The product is expected to launch in 2022. Such market developments have open new opportunities in the paints & coatings industry and offered customers a wide range of anti-corrosion coatings that are suitable for their application.
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Types of anti-corrosion coatings
Based on the technology involved, the anti-corrosion coatings are segmented into various types. Here are some of the prime types of anti-corrosion coatings:
Water-based anti-corrosion coatings
These types have rapidly replaced the traditional solvent-based coatings due to their safety and eco-friendly behavior. Moreover, these coatings contain low volatile organic compounds (VOC) and water-based coatings comply with the environmental regulations mandated by the governments of several countries. Apart from this, powder coatings and radiation-cured coatings have gained popularity in the automation industry to minimize corrosion of vehicle parts.
Nanoparticle in a polymer coating
The physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles are quite different from the material at an ordinary scale. Thus, nanotechnology has entered the coating industry to develop more effective and eco-friendlier products. It is observed that the addition of nanoparticles to resins could help improve corrosion resistance drastically. What’s more, the addition of nanoparticles offers a greater surface activity that helps absorb more resin compared to the traditional pigments. For instance, Titanium dioxide nanoparticles used in epoxy resin reduce corrosive wear and rolling wear. Similarly, Zinc oxide and polymer coatings with clay particles are now widely used to create anti-corrosion coatings.
Smart anti-corrosion coatings
Corrosion is expensive in many ways. However, based on the function of coating, end-use industries choose different kinds of anti-corrosion coatings, which are known as smart coatings. Based on the application, smart coatings are divided into anti-corrosion, anti-microbial, anti-icing, anti-fouling, self-healing, anti-drag, self-dimming, color-shifting coatings among others.
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Over the last few years, these smart coatings have gained a majority share of the anti-corrosion coating market. Smart anti-corrosion coatings gained the spotlight due to their compatibility with an array of structural metals, adherence to environmental conditions, long-lasting protection, self-healing properties when damaged, and less maintenance.
Especially in the automotive sector, anti-corrosion coatings have a huge demand for making vehicles scratch-free. Moreover, these coatings offer an extra level of protection to the surface of the metal and restrict the direct contact between corrosive materials. These materials behave as barriers against corrosion of substrate that is subjected to high temperature and harmful external conditions.
One of the most important reasons behind the popularity of smart anti-corrosion coatings as they require low maintenance, which is vital in marine coatings. These coatings are used to protect corrosion in ships, vessels, and boats, where frequent maintenance is troublesome.
Rise in demand for self-healing coatings
The advent of new technologies has unlocked new opportunities in the coating industry. Inspired by biological processes, self-healing coatings have become an innovative way to maintain the integrity of the pipeline and other mechanical equipment in end-user industries. It has been years since the emergence of self-healing coatings but their widespread adoption is yet to be achieved.
According to a recent study, self-healing epoxy coating based on tung oil-containing microcapsules is expected to aid in corrosion protection. The coating containing microcapsules was subjected to several tests to evaluate its self-healing properties. SEM, neutral salt spray, and EIS tests confirmed that this type of microcapsule shows a good anti-corrosion performance of self-healing coating.
Prior to this, a group of researchers published a study that found solid oxide protective coatings could help in corrosion and act as self-healing coatings. The majority of the metal, except gold, tends to oxidize when exposed to air or water. However, there are some elements such as aluminum, chromium, silicon that produce oxides that can serve as a protective shield against further oxidization. As per the study, a thin layer of solid aluminum oxide could prevent leakage of tiny molecules that could penetrate through materials such as hydrogen gas in fuel-cell cars.
There are two major types in the self-healing coatings based on healing mechanisms:
Autonomous coating systems: these coatings automatically start the healing process as any kind of damage triggers the process
On-demand or non-autonomous healing process: this process demands an external trigger such as heat or light to begin the healing process
Both coating types offer corrosion protection as they contain corrosion inhibitors that are triggered by small cracks or corrosive reactions on the metal surface.
The development and global adoption of self-healing coatings would help manufacturing facilities maintain the integrity of equipment while reducing downtime losses.
Surge in demand for eco-friendly and green anti-corrosion coatings:
Consumers across the globe are now more concerned about the impact of chemical products on the environment and the paints & coatings industry has been one of the major contributors to water and air pollution. Thus, the demand for eco-friendly products has created a huge impact on the manufacturers of coatings. Today, customers are more inclined toward coatings that offer smart functionality, better corrosion resistance during harsh environments, high performance, and long life without negatively affecting the environment.
Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) recently unveiled a new range of eco-friendly graphene nanoplatelet dispersions. These dispersions will manufacturers of coatings, paints, and composite materials to improve the sustainability of their product and meet the increasing demand for eco-friendly anti-corrosion coatings.
In current times, the majority of the material suppliers are ready to invest in bio-based innovations as customers and end-use industries have become aware of the impact of raw materials used in paints & coatings on the environment. These dispersions offered by AGM would offer a new opportunity for coatings manufacturers to create sustainable products and comply with the government’s health and safety regulations. Thus, in the future, the anti-corrosion coatings industry would witness rapid innovations and increased integration of smart technology.